Editors Please Note

• Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, the first traveling retrospective devoted to the Armenian-born American painter since 1981, opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on October 21, 2009. The exhibition includes 180 paintings, sculptures and works on paper reflecting the scope of a prolific career that ultimately exerted a profound effect on American art of the post-World War II period. Born Vosdanig Adoian, around 1904, near Lake Van in Ottoman Turkey, the young artist immigrated to the United States, settling in New York where he changed his name and became a largely self-taught painter. Drawn from public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe, this traveling retrospective organized by the Museum reveals the evolution of Gorky’s vision and mature style.

New and Upcoming Exhibitions

Frederick Sommer (1905-1999) crafted a body of art inflected by Surrealist ideas and distinguished by his meticulous love for the art of photographic printing, his broad knowledge of art history, and a keen sense of how the parts of a picture come together to produce meaning. This exhibition surveys five decades of his photography, including disorienting compositions such as “Arizona Landscape” (1943), a horizon-less image that only gradually resolves its components into a desolate desert scene, and equally bewildering subjects such as “Max Ernst” (1946), an exhibition highlight, in which Sommer experimented with layered negatives, superimposing an image of a rock onto a portrait of his friend Ernst, the pioneering Dada and Surrealist artist, to create the illusion of a human morphing into rock.

The first exhibition of Sommer’s work in Philadelphia since 1968, Frederick Sommer Photographspresents some 40 images spanning the artist’s career, along with a small number of drawings and collages. Included is a rare suite of macabre yet poignant photographs the artist made in 1939 using chicken parts collected from his butcher.

In a brief life that endured considerable tragedy, Armenian-born artist Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) built upon the achievements of early modern artists to become a seminal figure in the movement toward abstraction that transformed American art in the years after World War II.

The first comprehensive retrospective devoted to Gorky in nearly three decades, this exhibition includes 180 paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints drawn from public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective benefits from the publication of three recent biographies of the artist and will, for the first time in a major museum exhibition, acknowledge the influence of Gorky’s Armenian identity on the artist’s work. A survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Gorky dealt with issues of trauma, displacement, and memory through his painting in moving, evocative works, such as the two canvases titled “The Artist and His Mother,” both of which will be presented in the exhibition alongside several of their studies.

The exhibition also highlights Gorky’s engagement with the Surrealist movement in America, and the development of his unique visual vocabulary in works such as “Water of the Flowery Mill” (1944), which reflects his deep absorption in nature-based abstraction and “The Plow and the Song” series (1944-1947), which reflects Gorky’s continuing engagement with memories of his rural Armenian childhood. Other notable works to be included are “Agony” (1947), Gorky’s haunting late painting, a product of his increasingly tormented imagination in the late 1940s, and “The Black Monk (Last Painting),” which was left unfinished on Gorky’s easel at the time of his death in 1948. Some of the works represented have never been publicly exhibited before, among them the wood sculptures “Haikakan Gutan I, II, and III” (“Armenian Plow I, II and III”), of 1944, 1945, and 1947 (collection of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America Eastern), on deposit at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon), as well as the Museum’s recently acquired “Woman with a Palette” (1927).

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective will be presented in a generally chronological sequence, including several thematic groupings, to demonstrate all phases of Gorky’s short, yet fascinating career, which underwent an astonishing metamorphosis as he assimilated the lessons of earlier masters and movements, and utilized them in the service of his own artistic development. The groupings reflect the artist’s early intense fascination with Paul Cézanne, then with Cubism, followed by his projects for the Works Progress Administration that provided steady income in the 1930s. In the 1940s, Gorky’s contact with Surrealism informed the visionary works made in his spacious, light-filled studio on Union Square, which he called his “Creation Chamber.” Several galleries in the exhibition will serve as “creation chambers” in their own right, highlighting the artist’s working process by presenting Gorky’s most significant paintings alongside the painstaking studies, drawings and pastels that informed their making.

Catalogue: The exhibition will be accompanied by a 400-page catalogue, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press. The catalogue (60 b/w + 270 color illus; ISBN# 978-0-87633-213-9; $65) will include essays by a group of noted art historians, curators, and artists: Harry Cooper, Jody Patterson, Robert Storr, Michael Taylor, and Kim Theriault, who will present new theoretical approaches to the artist’s work. The essays will build upon new biographical details about the artist’s Armenian background that have emerged in recent years, while also exploring Gorky’s creative thinking, his unique experimentation, and his extraordinary command of materials and imaginative exploration of various themes. The essays will be followed by a lavishly illustrated plate section, as well as sections devoted to Gorky’s exhibition history, bibliography and a chronology of his life and work.

Itinerary: Following its presentation in Philadelphia, the exhibition will travel to the Tate Modern, London (February 10 – May 3, 2010), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (June 6 – September 10, 2010). Curator: Michael R. Taylor, The Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern ArtLocation: Dorrance Galleries

The international tour is made possible by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The U.S. tour is supported by The Lincy Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

In Philadelphia, the exhibition is made possible by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, and by the Neubauer Family Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Dadourian Foundation, The Robert Montgomery Scott Fund for Exhibitions, the Locks Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Hirair Hovnanian and other Friends of Arshile Gorky, a group of generous individuals. Promotional support is provided by NBC 10 WCAU.

The catalogue was made possible by Larry Gagosian and The Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Scholarly Publications, with additional support provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Tate Modern, London, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

In 1759, the young Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95), who was destined to become one of England’s most famous potters, established his first factory at the Ivy House Works in Burslem, England. This exhibition celebrates the 250th anniversary of the factory’s opening with some 20 pieces of Wedgwood, including a large “Krater” vase from the Museum’s collection, decorated in imitation of the red-figure painting of the ancient Greeks and Romans using a process Wedgwood patented in 1769 as “encaustic.”

The influence on Wedgwood of a publication titled Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton is also an integral part of the exhibition. In 1769, Wedgwood was lent early proofs of the catalogue that documented the collection of Greek and Italian vases assembled by Sir William Hamilton, British envoy to the King of Two Sicilies. This catalogue—a copy of which will be included in the exhibition—would serve as a source of inspiration at the Wedgwood factory for decades.

Wedgwood’s enormous success in the later part of the 18th century was achieved through a rare combination of business acumen, scientific interests, and artistic talents. The early years of the factory coincided with the emergence of the neoclassical style, following the discovery of the ancient buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, and Wedgwood was instrumental in establishing a taste for the antique that quickly found favor with an aristocratic English clientele, including King George III and Queen Charlotte.

From representations of classical Noh theater masks and costumes to depictions of poetry competitions and of the joys of fishing, Pleasures and Pastimes in Japanese Art examines the myriad ways in which leisure time was examined and interpreted across all social classes in Japanese art.

The 70 or so objects on view, spanning the period from the 16th to the 20th century, encompass activities ranging from libretti and musical instruments of the theater, attended by Japanese nobility, to scroll painting and ceramics depicting fishing trips enjoyed by members of all social classes. The importance of gourmet food and drink to Japanese culture is also documented by ceramic vessels intended for sake, as well as by food containers on view.

Other pleasures and pastimes represented include intricately designed incense burners, painted versions of ikebana—or flower arrangements—and a set of playing cards, based on 100 classical poems, still used during New Year’s celebrations in Japan today.

The Museum hosts the U.S. premiere of Bruce Nauman’s two new sound installations, Days and Giorni (both 2009). These groundbreaking works were exhibited as integral parts of Bruce Nauman, Topological Gardens, the U.S. representation at the 53rd International Art Exhibition—La Biennale de Venezia, which in June was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion for the Best National Participation

In these new works created for the Biennale, the days of the week are recited in subtly varying combinations by a range of participants and recorded as individual audio tracks. The voices differ in language—English in Days and Italian in Giorni—and also rhythm and progression. Whereas Days was recorded and edited over a long period of time, Nauman worked with the participants that gave voices to Giorni (the students and faculty of the Iuav University) during a single day in Venice.

New Yorker critic Calvin Tomkins described the community of voices that emerge in the works as “discrete ribbons of sound” in which we hear the “human voice making unintentional music as it evokes the passage of time.” Mesmerizing and moving, the effect of Days and Giorni is also forceful and unrelenting. As Nauman both repeats and deftly rearranges the days of the week, he alters and undermines the sequence that normally measures the passage of time.

Days and Giorni will be presented in the main Museum building’s Gisela and Dennis Alter Gallery (176) and the Perelman Building’s Exhibition Gallery.

Notations/Bruce Nauman: Days and Giorni is made possible by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Henry Luce Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts, with additional funding from Agnes Gund, Maja Oeri and Hans Bodenmann, Sperone Westwater Gallery, and many other Friends of Bruce Nauman. The related catalogue was made possible by Isabel and Agustín Coppel, and was published on the occasion of the premiere of these works in Bruce Nauman: Topological Gardens, the official U.S. representation at the 53rd International Art Exhibition---La Biennale di Venezia, which was organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Marcel Wanders' (b.1963) unique fusion of technology, artistry, and wit have established him as a leading figure in international design. Created specifically for the Museum, this installation will showcase the designer’s favorite projects over the last 20 years, including prototypes, personal editions, and objects never before exhibited.

Trained in The Netherlands as an industrial designer, Wanders’ work ranges from manufactured products and design-art to architecture and interior design. Using shifting video images, light, and sound, the exhibition dramatizes the evolution of Wanders’ design process and philosophy with visual and aural storytelling. Several films will demonstrate how Wanders’ works are interrelated. A selection of what the artist considers his most essential works will be on view, among them: “Knotted Chair,” “Bell Big Ben Bianco,” “Calvin,” “Lucky One,” “Extra Big Shadow Floor Lamp,” “Moosehead,” “Crochet Chair,” “New Antiques Chair,” and “Blow Lamp.”

Throughout his career, Wanders has consistently challenged the premises of modernism through avant-garde works on view like “Knotted Chair” (1996), which marries handcraft and industrial technology; the chair is made from braided, epoxy-soaked aramide rope with a carbon-fiber core and hung in a frame to harden.

This exhibition was made possible by Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer, with additional support provided by Collab—a non-profit group that supports the Museum’s modern and contemporary design collection and programs.

An in-kind contribution was provided by Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.

Bengal (modern Bangladesh and eastern India) is a lush region of lotus pools, fish-filled rivers, and tiger-haunted forests punctuated by rice and banana fields, rural villages, and teeming cities. The domestic arts made by and for Bengali women during the 19th and 20th centuries include intricate embroidered quilts called kanthas, vibrant ritual paintings, fish-shaped caskets and other implements created in resin-thread technique. Drawn from a common pool of motifs and ideas that reflect the unique environment of the region, these creations provide a rare view into women’s everyday lives and thoughts.

Other arts, such as elaborate painted narrative scrolls and souvenir paintings from Kalighat near Calcutta, illustrate women’s roles, both domestic and divine. Representations of the great goddess Durga as beloved daughter, devoted wife, adoring mother, fierce warrior, and heroic victor epitomize the complex nature of female divinity—and of women themselves—in the stories and culture of Bengal.

Created in conjunction with the exhibition Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection and the Stella Kramrisch Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, on view in the Spain Gallery of the Museum’s Perelman Building (December 12, 2009 through July 25, 2010), Arts of Bengal: Wives, Mothers, Goddesses and the companion Arts of Bengal: Village, Town, Temple (Gallery 227 and 228, Spring 2010) showcase works from the Museum’s extensive holdings of Bengali vernacular arts.

Curator: Darielle Mason, The Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan ArtLocation: William P. Wood Gallery

Artist Cai Guo-Qiang is internationally renowned for his signature explosion events, ground-breaking installations, and large-scale gunpowder drawings inspired by a variety of Chinese symbols, traditions, and materials. On December 11, the Museum will stage an explosion event on its East façade, presented in conjunction with an exhibition of gunpowder drawings. These two components are part of a larger project organized in close collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia as both an homage to the late Anne d’Harnoncourt and a reflection on memory and the passing of time.

Curators: Carlos Basualdo, The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator of Contemporary Art and Adelina Vlas, Modern and Contemporary ArtLocation: Explosion event: December 11 at 4:30 p.m., East Terrace, Main BuildingExhibition: Gallery 172, first floor

Lovingly created from the remnants of worn garments and embroidered with motifs and tales drawn from the rich visual and narrative repertoire of Bengal, kanthas were traditionally stitched as gifts to be used in the celebration of weddings and other family occasions. The exhibition presents some 40 examples of this vibrant domestic art, created by village and urban women in the Bengal region, now comprised of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal, India.

Drawn from works spanning the 19th to the mid-20th century, the quilts on view were created by women who, whether rural or urban, Hindu or Muslim, shared a common Bengali culture from which they drew inspiration. Kanthas of varying dimensions functioned in the home as seating cloths for special prayers and meals, cushions and bedcovers, wrappers for ritual gifts, holders for utensils and sacred books. Although today a number have been preserved as treasured family heirlooms and in collections, the majority were destroyed over the years, often disintegrating from daily and varied use. During the 20th century, kanthas took on additional meaning as important embodiments of cultural and national identity.

The first exhibition devoted solely to kanthas ever presented outside of South Asia, Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal focuses on two premier collections. One was assembled and donated to the Museum by Dr. Stella Kramrisch—a legendary historian and the Museum’s Curator of Indian Art from 1954 until her death in 1993—primarily during her 30-year residence in Calcutta. The other was assembled by Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, leading proponents of American self-taught art, who have promised their kantha collection to the Museum.

Catalogue: The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue 304 pp.; 254 color + 50 b/w illusrations; ISBN# 978-0-87633-218-4), published by the Museum in conjunction with Yale University Press. The catalogue presents, for the first time, the Kramrisch and Bonovitz collections in their entirety—together, they comprise 85 quilts. It features innovative essays by leading scholars exploring this art form in depth, studying and discussing kanthas as generational links, emblems of national identity, repositories of regional culture, and works of art. Curator: Darielle Mason, The Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art.Location: Joan Spain Costume and Textile Gallery, Perelman Building

The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue were made possible by Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, with additional generous support from The Coby Foundation, Ltd.

Two well-known tondos, or round paintings, by the great early Flemish master Hans Memling (1430 – 1494) frame this exploration of late 14th-century devotional scenes of the Virgin and Christ child in a focused exhibition.

Working in Bruges, Memling followed in the footsteps of Jan van Eyck (c.1395-1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (c.1399/1400 – 1464), refining their graceful, elegant and rich style. In the two small round works on display, however, he followed models by Robert Campin (c. 1375-1444), another great master of the early Flemish school. Campin’s “Christ and the Virgin” (1430-35) is considered a masterful composition of microscopic realism for which early Netherlandish painting is renowned, and in which Campin’s love of Byzantine prototypes is especially evident.

The 12 works in the exhibition demonstrate the power of maternal love, but also the power of prototypes, as each of the artists paid homage to models and masters of great authority. The tondos on display span from 1420 – 1500, and show hieratic, non-narrative devotion scenes that were created for domestic use, most likely in private chambers or bedrooms, not unlike the round convex mirrors they resembled.

The printed image lies at the heart of the work of many contemporary artists, but just as printed materials have become ubiquitous in visual culture, passing nearly unnoticed, so too have print processes become an integral part of art-making without always being acknowledged. The role of the printed image in contemporary art is the focus of the international festival, PHILAGRAFIKA 2010, to be held throughout the city of Philadelphia. The core exhibition of the festival, The Graphic Unconscious, will be shown across five venues, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Museum will display installations by the Japanese artist Tabaimo (b. 1975) and the Colombian artist Óscar Muñoz (b. 1951) that explore the translation of printmaking into other mediums and expand the conceptual boundaries of printmaking.

Tabaimo (b. 1975) often portrays communal places such as public restrooms, commuter trains, and bathhouses in her video works—settings where anonymity and intimacy can collide and the orderly surface of Japanese society is disturbed. Drawing on the aesthetics of traditional Japanese woodcuts as well as the frequently violent narratives of Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime), Tabaimo’s video projections (often life-size or larger) are installed in well-defined spaces or stage-like settings in which they directly confront, envelop, or otherwise encompass the viewer. The U.S. debut of her video installation, “dolefullhouse” (2007), will be presented in the Museum’s Stieglitz gallery.

Oscar Muñoz (b.1951) blurs the boundaries between photography, printmaking, drawing, installation, video and sculpture. He uses innovative processes, such as screenprinted charcoal portraits on water, to create images that address the ephemeral nature of human existence, memory, and history. Muñoz will present two projects in the Berman Gallery: screenprinted charcoal self-portraits on water, titled "Narcisos en proceso" (Narcissi in process), 1994-ongoing, and a set of video portraits of people who are deceased or have disappeared, “Biographies,” (2002).

The institutions participating in The Graphic Unconscious are: Moore College of Art & Design, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Print Center, Temple Gallery, Temple University, and Tyler School of Art. Thirty-five artists from 18 countries will be represented.

PHILAGRAFIKA 2010 is the inaugural presentation of an international festival celebrating the print in contemporary art that is based in Philadelphia with installations and exhibitions at a broad range of cultural institutions and sites in the city.

These exhibitions are part of the multi-site exhibition Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with Philagrafika, a nonprofit arts organization in Philadelphia that provides leadership for large-scale, collaborative initiatives with broad public exposure. Program support for The Graphic Unconscious is provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional support for the installations by Óscar Muñoz was provided by the Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia and the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia, and the Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas.

One of the most innovative and influential artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) was at his most ferociously inventive between 1905 and 1945. Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris surveys his work during these crucial decades, from his early experiments with abstraction to his pioneering role in the development of Cubism, as well as exploring his dialogue with Surrealism and other important art movements in the ensuing decades. The exhibition also explores the important role that the city of Paris played in the history of modern art during the first half of the 20th century, when artists from around the world followed Picasso’s example and moved to the French capital. It will include works by such expatriate artists as Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipchitz, Patrick Henry Bruce, and Man Ray, who collectively formed a vibrant, international avant-garde group that became known as the School of Paris.
Drawn from the Museum’s extraordinary collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings by Picasso, with additional loans from private American collections, this exhibition provides a unique opportunity to reconsider the cross-fertilization of ideas that took place in Paris during one of the most experimental and creative periods in Western art. More than 100 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper will be on view, including Picasso’s “Three Musicians” (1921), a grand summation of the artist’s decade-long exploration of Synthetic Cubism. Another featured painting is Picasso’s “Self-portrait with Palette” (1906), in which the young artist unabashedly proclaims his mastery and command.

Photographers have long been seduced by the subtle and lustrous shades of the platinum print, which range from the deepest blacks to the most delicate whites. This exhibition features a selection of some 50 works from the late 19th century to the present, showcasing outstanding prints drawn from the Museum’s collection of photographs. Highlights include images by early masters of the platinum process including Frederick H. Evans (1853-1943) and Paul Strand (1890-1976), as well as works by skilled contemporary practitioners such as Lois Conner (born 1951).

Revered for its permanence as well as its tonal depth and beauty, platinum has been treasured by photographers and collectors since its inception in 1873, its popularity impeded only by its high cost and its scarcity. Unlike standard silver printing, in which particles are suspended in gelatin, platinum is brushed directly onto the paper, allowing artists to create a matte image that boasts an exceptionally wide tonal range.
While encompassing works spanning many dates and styles, The Platinum Process highlights one of the Museum's treasures, Paul Strand's iconic 1915 masterpiece “Wall Street.” Strand, whose work was at the forefront of the modernist aesthetic developing in New York during the early 20th century, used platinum to emphasize abstract patterns in the long shadows cast by figures that appear dwarfed before a succession of monumental windows.

Depictions of flora and fauna based on Chinese works of art as well as those indigenous to each region greatly inspired artists in East Asia. The fine arts and crafts in this exhibition of 45 objects from the 5th to early 20th century feature diverse representation of animals and plants that often served as living symbols of philosophical, historical, and metaphorical associations in Korea.

Drawn from the collection, the works offer images of mythical animals like the dragon and phoenix, believed to protect against evil spirits, as well as plum trees, orchids, chrysanthemum, and bamboo, considered the “four friends” of literati gentlemen. Often, the metaphor of animals and plants was based on word play, giving certain combinations of selected animals or plants additional meaning. The Korean pronunciation of the characters for "reed" and "old man" are the same (no), as are the words for "geese" and "comfort"(ahn); thus, traditional Korean paintings of reeds and geese represent a wish for a peaceful life in later years.

The highlight of the paintings, ceramics and lacquer objects on view is a pair of court paintings of phoenixes and peacocks with a paulownia and peach tree. These rare and exquisite paintings of the 19th-century Joseon dynasty have been newly conserved and remounted in Korea, and make their debut in this exhibition. Directly attached to the wall of a Joseon palace, they would have functioned both as wall decoration and as an emblem of good fortune.

Owing to the fragility of works on paper and silk, the paintings will be rotated periodically.

Focusing on the final three decades of his career, Late Renoiri explores the innovative techniques Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French 1841-1919) adopted in response to his dissatisfaction with the limitations of the Impressionist method and subject matter.

Devoting himself instead to joyful subjects such as bathers, domestic scenes, and landscapes, Renoir used fluid brushstrokes and a remarkable palette to depict scenes influenced by classical mythology and his recent move to the south of France. Troubled by arthritis and increasingly limited in his movements, he turned for inspiration to the scenes around him, winning the admiration of the modernist avant-garde who recognized in the monumentality of his figures and smooth handling of paint that Renoir had gone beyond Impressionism to create art that was both classical and modern.

Despite the acclaim received in his lifetime, Renoir’s late work began to fall out of favor with critics in the mid-20th century. The exhibition will provide an opportunity to revisit this period of Renoir’s career and to assess his substantial legacy for younger painters such as Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Approximately 80 paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Renoir will be displayed alongside 20 works by emerging artists.

Late Renoir is organized by The Réunion des Musées Nationaux, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This exhibition is supported in part by The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions and the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Major foundation support for this exhibition is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Three decades of objects collected by Xavier Guerrand-Hermès, of the renowned Paris-based fashion empire, illuminate the diversity and beauty of traditional North African jewelry design through some 80 pieces of jewelry and nearly 30 late-19th- and early-20th-century photographs by artists from Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia.

Desert Jewels features ornate necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings, most of which have never been publicly displayed. Designers working with inventive combinations of silver, coral, amber, coins, and semi-precious stones highlight cultural threads shared by many North African societies, while exploring local variations in materials and motifs.

North African jewelry came to the attention of Western collectors in the 19th century, when archaeological monuments in North Africa were being explored, visited, and in some cases, pillaged. The jewelry was also captured in photographs by artists including the Scotsman George Washington Wilson, the Neurdine brothers from France, and the Turkish photographer Pascal Sabah, who visited the region and photographed landscapes, architecture, markets, and people adorned in their jewels. Some of these images were used for postcards, while other remained hidden in little-known collections.

This exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art in New York.

Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 1933, Italy) is widely recognized in Europe as one of its most influential contemporary artists and is increasingly gaining recognition in the United States as forerunner to contemporary participatory practices. As the artist’s first focused survey in the United States in more than two decades, this exhibition places Pistoletto’s work in the context of the post-war socio-cultural transformations of Italy, Western Europe, and North America while also exploring its relationship to pop, minimalism, and conceptual art. The exhibition will include more than 80 works of art—many of which have never before been seen in the United States—that will range from his early self-portraits to subsequent series of works, including “Quadri Specchianti” (Mirroring Paintings), “Oggetti in Meno” (Minus Objects), and “Stracci” (Rags). The works on view will trace the progression of Pistoletto’s artistic focus from a rigorous investigation of the representations of the self in the mid-1950s to his collaborative actions of the mid-1970s that lie at the heart of many artists’ participatory practices today.

The Museum will also present the artist’s current work at his interdisciplinary laboratory, Cittadellarte, in the Perelman Building’s Exhibition Gallery. Michelangelo Pistoletto: Cittadellarte will highlight the intellectual, political, and social dialogues fostered by Cittadellarte, which was founded by the artist in 1998 by in Biella, Italy. The installation will play host to a series of performances, lectures, and workshops bringing the innovative spirit of this artistic center to the Museum and the city of Philadelphia.

Curator: Carlos Basualdo, The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator of Contemporary Art Location: Gisela and Dennis Alter Gallery (176) in the Main Building and Exhibition Gallery, Perelman Building.

Ongoing Exhibitions

The winding stretch of Mediterranean coastline extending from Marseilles to Menton – the so-called French Riviera – has inspired artists since becoming a tourist resort in the 1860s. Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), one of modern art’s great colorists, moved there in 1917, attracted by the area’s scenic beauty and radiant light. Matisse stayed in Nice, the center of artistic and intellectual life in the South of France, until the end of his life, in 1954. His “Nice period” consists primarily of the works he completed in the 1920s, when he painted richly decorated hotel interiors, suffused with light, and inhabited by languorous odalisques. The sun-drenched region encouraged other artists, such as Pierre Bonnard, Raoul Dufy, and Chaim Soutine to move there in search of light and color. Including approximately 35 paintings and sculpture from the Museum’s collection and local private collections, this installation celebrates the mythic allure for modern artists.

This exhibition includes works from around the world made by 13 artists in the last years of the 20th century. Taking the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 as a starting point and leading up to the events of September 2001, the exhibition highlights the range of artistic pursuit during this period of transformation. It includes painting, sculpture, and video from the Museum’s collection complemented by a small number of loans.

The 13 works on view vary dramatically in scale, medium and mood - from the meditative to the exuberant and from the elegiac to the surreal - reflecting both the anxieties and the expectations that marked the end of a millennium through the lens of Francis Alÿs, Gabriel Orozco, Peter Doig, Sherrie Levine, Glenn Ligon, Jeff Wall and others.

The glamorous and cutting-edge fashions created in Paris have always inspired American dress. This exhibition explores the American experience abroad between 1850 and World War I. Such luxurious designs as the House of Worth and the classic elegance of Lanvin will be paired with American fashions based on these Parisian prototypes. Featuring nearly 25 garments from the Museum’s permanent collections — many of which are rarely (or have never been) displayed — these outfits will be accompanied by an exciting array of accessories. Photographs and film clips from the early 20th century will be on view, giving audiences a sense of storyline around each garment and the woman who would have worn it.

As a complement to Shopping in Paris, the Perelman Building Library will present an accompanying exhibition of books on fashion and travel from 1850 – 1920. The exhibition will include fashion plates of the dresses, hats and ephemera (such as magazine articles, store souvenirs, and guide books) that women from this time period would have used during their travels to Paris.

Sponsor: This exhibition is made possible by a generous gift from Joan and Bernard Spain.Curator: Dilys Blum, The Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Curator of Costume and TextilesLocation: The Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, Joan Spain Gallery

Skyscrapers rose to towering heights in major cities across the United States during the early decades of the 20th century. These technological feats of architecture and design supported rapid urban growth while simultaneously providing new subject material for artists. Skyscrapers encouraged artists to document urban development and experiment with modernist aesthetics, and offered a subject on which to project personal or collective ideas and emotions.

In this installation, more than 50 prints, drawings and photographs chosen from the Museum’s permanent collection will demonstrate the many ways artists portrayed the new architectural giants in their landscape. Created between 1905 and 1940, the works will reflect a wide range of styles and practices. Among the famous skyscrapers featured are Chicago’s gothic-ornamented Tribune Tower, New York City’s Art Deco Empire State Building, and Philadelphia’s modernist PSFS Building. The exhibition includes prints by John Marin and Charles Sheeler, photographs by Berenice Abbott and Alfred Stieglitz, and drawings by Earl Horter and Abraham Walkowitz.

Curators: John Vick, the Margaret R. Mainwaring Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
John Ittmann, Curator of Prints Location: The Muriel and Philip Berman Gallery, ground floor

The exhibition encompasses nearly a millennium of art from across the Himalayan region (centered on Tibet and Nepal) and from neighboring areas under its cultural influence. Highlights include a sublime 9th-century bronze of Ratnasambhava Buddha from northern India and the monumental 18th-century painting Banquet for Dharmapalas from Mongolia.

All were created for the form of Buddhism that developed in the area called Vajrayana “the indestructible path”. Using an array of potent images as well as words and actions, the practitioner evokes within him or herself the steps leading toward enlightenment. The works of art in this exhibition depict buddhas, deities and holy men in many materials and styles. Whether in metal, paint or wood, whether beautiful or terrifying, simple or intricate, each was created as a guide to help progress along the path.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present the first exhibition to examine the genesis, construction, and reception of “Étant donnés: 1° la chute d’eau, 2° le gaz d’éclairage (Given: 1° The Waterfall, 2° The Illuminating Gas),” Marcel Duchamp’s enigmatic final masterwork that was secretly executed in New York during the last 20 years of his life and discovered in his studio soon after his death in October 1968. The multi-media assemblage surprised the art world and perplexed the public when, as a gift to the Museum and in accordance with the artist’s wishes, it was permanently installed in July 1969, joining the world’s largest collection of his works, including “The Nude Descending the Staircase, No.2” “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass),” to which it closely relates, and readymades such as “With Hidden Noise” and “Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?”

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its public debut, Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés will situate the extraordinary assemblage within the context of some 80 related works of art, including all the known studies, photographs, body casts, erotic objects, and other materials. Included also will be 25 photographs of the artist’s studio at 80 East 11th Street, taken by a friend, Denise Brown Hare, in the mid-to-late 1960s, which document the work before it was disassembled and moved to Philadelphia. The exhibition is drawn largely from the collections and archives of the Museum, and supplemented by loans from public and private collections in the United States, Europe, Israel and Japan.

No photograph can ever communicate the intensity of the unique visual experience of seeing Duchamp’s “Étant donnés: 1° la chute d’eau, 2° le gaz d’éclairage,” of 1946-66, which has been described by Jasper Johns as “the strangest work of art any museum has ever had in it.” This elaborate three-dimensional assemblage offers an unforgettable and untranslatable experience to those who look through the two small holes in the solid wooden door, which is set into a brick archway in a roughly stuccoed wall. The rustic door has no handle, and only by peering through the holes does the unsuspecting viewer encounter within the spectacular sight of a realistically constructed simulacrum of a naked woman lying on a bed of dead twigs and fallen leaves. In her left hand, this life-size mannequin holds aloft an old-fashioned illuminated gas lamp of the Bec Auer type, while behind her, in the far distance, a lush wooded landscape rises toward the horizon. This brightly illuminated backdrop consists of a retouched photographic collage of a hilly landscape with a dense cluster of trees outlined against a hazy turquoise sky, replete with fluffy cotton clouds. The only movement in the otherwise eerily still grotto is a sparkling waterfall, powered by an unseen motor, which pours into a mist-laden lake on the right.

Catalogue: The exhibition, organized by Michael R. Taylor, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue (448 pp. 117 b/w + 343 color illus.; ISBN# 978-0-87633-210-8; $60) written by Dr. Taylor that will be published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in conjunction with Yale University Press. This catalogue will present new scholarship on the history and construction of the piece, as well as the scandalous critical reception of the work after it went on public display in 1969, and its legacy for contemporary artists, such as Ray Johnson, Hannah Wilke, Robert Gober, and Marcel Dzama. It will also provide a comprehensive bibliography for the piece, as well as color plates for every work of art in the exhibition. The catalogue will publish for the first time an important cache of 35 letters that Duchamp wrote in the 1940s and early 1950s to his then-lover, the Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins, who was the model for the recumbent figure in his environmental tableau construction. Manual of Instructions (50 pp. plus 16-pp. insert; ISBN# 978-0-87633-212-2; $40) includes an introduction by Anne d’Harnoncourt and an essay by Michael R. Taylor, the Murial and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the Museum’s late and beloved director Anne d’Harnoncourt, who oversaw the painstaking installation of “Étant donnés” in 1969. A pre-eminent Duchamp scholar, d’Harnoncourt sought to shed new light on the artist and was an enthusiastic supporter of this exhibition and its catalogue.

This exhibition and publication are generously supported by The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with additional funding from Mr. and Mrs. Aaron M. Levine and The John and Lisa Pritzker Family Fund. The catalogue was also made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Scholarly Publications.

This exhibition explores the relationship between calligraphers and artists through five works of calligraphy, drawing, and painting dating from the 17th through 19th century. A highlight from this group is a never-before-exhibited Mughal tinted drawing of around 1600, which, in its subject matter and emphasis upon bold and graceful linear effects, borrows from both European prints and Islamic calligraphies.

In Arabic, the word qalam originally meant the calligrapher’s reed pen. Calligraphers were and are esteemed in Islamic circles because their pens write the sacred words of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. The attitude toward painters, however, has not always been so positive since their brushes could depict—thus create—human and animal figures, thereby challenging the sole creative authority of God.

Persian poets of the 16th century countered this negative perception by describing the painter’s brush as a second qalam, equivalent to that of the calligrapher’s pen. The two qalams came together in the vibrant bookmaking workshops of the Islamic courts of Persia and India, where calligraphers and painters collaborated to produce a wealth of elaborate manuscripts and albums in which the art of pen and brush merged with exquisite results.

Most auspicious symbols originated in China and became common denominators throughout East Asia, while the individual adaptation of such elements varied in each culture. By the late Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) of Korea, auspicious themes, such as wishes for longevity, wealth and fecundity, gained popularity as subjects for screen paintings, whereas in China similar themes appeared most often in ceramic decorations.

Drawn from the permanent collection, this two-part exhibition features Korean screen paintings with propitious Chinese narratives, such as the Banquet of General Guo Ziyi (2001-40-1) and the Hundred Children (2007-43-1). These will be juxtaposed with Chinese ceramics of the Qing dynasty (1616-1912) that are decorated with similar motifs. This cross-cultural display will provide an opportunity to trace the transmission and modification of art themes between the two neighboring cultures.

As the second part of the exhibition, Chinese ceramics decorated with narrative images of popular novels and legends will be on view in an adjacent gallery. With a growing demand for representation of scenes from various stories, printed book illustrations became a new source for ceramic decoration during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and through the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Such a practice shows a lively exchange between the two art mediums.

The 1960s were a critical period for the art of photography in Philadelphia, as artists including Emmet Gowin, Will Larson, and Ray K. Metzker—among the first to be trained in university art departments—came to Philadelphia to teach in the city’s renowned art schools, bringing with them experimental approaches to the medium.

Common Ground examines work by these internationally acclaimed artists along with superb work by lesser-known figures, including some of their students, who pushed photographic experimentation to explore both the medium and the social and sexual politics of the era. In addition to highlighting eight strong bodies of work, the exhibition demonstrates the rich exchange of ideas possible within a city's artistic community.

Metzker’s “Composites: Philadelphia” (1964), catalogs time and motion through a sequence of images, presenting an elegant meditation on photography's unique qualities among the visual arts. At the same time, it is a penetrating vision of urban life during the 1960s.

The exhibition will include work by Will Brown, Emmet Gowin, Catherine Jansen, Will Larson, David Lebe, Sol Mednick, Ray Metzker, and Carol Taback.

Philadelphia has a rich history of metalwork, and owes much of its early development to the industrial welders who helped shape the city during its settlement. The city has continued to rely on the skills of metalsmiths, who have gradually incorporated ornate design into functional works over the centuries. Wrought & Crafted: Jewelry and Metalwork 1900 to the Present showcases more than 50 works from the Museum’s collection, ranging from Samuel Yellin’s early 20th-century “Pair of Interior Gates” (1925), to Jonathan Bonner’s modern copper sculpture “Open Ends” (1998). Crowning the jewelry division of the exhibition is a necklace by Ford/Forlano titled “Pillow Collar Necklace” (2009), an elaborate, expansive piece made of overlapping forms of polymer clay, silver and gold. Commissioned by the Museum in memory of its late director, Anne d’Harnoncourt, with funds generously provided by the Women’s Committee, the ornate “Pillow Collar Necklace” reflects the intersection between the solid lines of the more traditionally crafted sculptures, and the delicate, whimsical touches applied to the brooches and rings in the exhibition.

Drawing together a diverse range of paintings and sculptures from across the subcontinent, this exhibition explores the confluence of sight and sound, king and god throughout a millennium of artistic vision in India.

As the arts of India reveal in this presentation of more than 30 works, music played a central role in the lives of rajas(rulers) and their retinues. Depictions of royal assemblies invariably include musicians, as do scenes of festivals and celebrations for birth or marriage. Drums and horns rallied troops and announced the arrival of the raja’s army, as shown in paintings from across the region. Music was also (and is still today) central to the worship, identities, and stories of supreme royalty—the Hindu gods. In the idyllic “miniature” painting “The Gods Sing and Dance for Shiva and Parvati” (1780-1790), the entertainment of the divine court echoes that of the earthly. For some deities, music-making is inseparable from their identities: Krishna enchants devotees with his flute; Shiva plays his two-headed drum as he dances the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction.

Artists also imagined the modes of classical Indian music (ragas) as vivid scenes from an idealized world inhabited by human and divine courtiers. These images were paired with poetry and organized into sets called ragamalas (garlands of ragas). Made exclusively for India’s royal patrons, ragamalas blend music, poetry, and painting in a unique synthesis of aesthetic experiences.

Curator: Yael Rice, Assistant Curator of Indian and Himalayan ArtLocation: The William P. Wood Gallery, 227

Artists have been inspired by the inner and outer beauty of the pomegranate since biblical times. An Enduring Motif: The Pomegranate in Textiles presents nine textiles from the Museum’s collection, each of which feature the richly symbolic fruit. The pomegranate tree or shrub is known for its spherical, calyx-crowned red fruit filled with hundreds of seeds. It originated in Persia (present-day Iran) several thousand years ago and is still prized for its sweet-sour flavor and medicinal properties. Historically, the pomegranate tree’s bark has been a source of tannin used in curing leather and its rind and flowers used as a textile dye. In addition to its practical uses, the pomegranate has been cross-culturally revered for centuries as a symbol of health, fertility, and resurrection.

A suite of four large glazed ceramic sculptures by Jun Kaneko, on view in the Skylit Galleria of the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, is installed to coincide with the East Coast debut of the artist’s production of the opera Madama Butterfly, which will be seen at the Opera Company of Philadelphia from October 9 – 18.

The sculptures, all of them rounded and richly decorated forms, are part of a larger body of works, or dangos, from the Japanese artist’s Mission Clay Project, so named after a sewer-pipe factory where Kaneko fired his work in a beehive kiln. Altogether, 41 of the works are on view in Philadelphia, including City Hall, the Kimmel Center, and Locks Gallery.

Each work, which takes about a year to complete, is hollow-cast, and painted with his signature striped and polka-dot patterns. Kaneko, born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942, began his formal studies in art in the United States at the Chouinard Art Institute and continued at Berkeley and Claremont Graduate School. He has been developing the dango sculptures since the mid 1990s, and some measure up to 13 feet tall.

Curator: Elisabeth Agro, The Nancy M. McNeil Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative ArtsLocation: Skylit Galleria, the Perelman Building

Marotta, born in South Philadelphia, spent over 40 years working in fashion, including many at Philadelphia’s highly regarded Nan Duskin boutique. As vice president of couture for Saks Fifth Avenue, his fashion sense was much admired by loyal customers as well as emerging and established fashion designers. He earned the affection and esteem of fashion titans and was an early champion of a new generation of designers.

This exhibition explores the creative influence behind each designer’s aesthetic, and will be accompanied by materials exploring the creative influences and inspiration behind the designers’ work.

Curator: Kristina Haugland, Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles and Supervising Curator for the Study Room and Academic RelationsLocation: Costume and Textile Study Gallery, the Perelman Building

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